United States or Malaysia ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
To that failure was now added the tightening of Rome's relations with Milan by the marriage between Lucrezia Borgia and Giovanni Sforza, and Ferrante rumours of a French invasion, with Naples for its objective being already in the air realized that nothing remained him but to make another attempt to conciliate the Pope's Holiness.
Visit of Isabella d'Este to Milan Birth of Beatrice's son, Francesco Sforza Fêtes and comedies at the Milanese court Works of Leonardo and of Lorenzo di Pavia Mission of Caradosso to Florence and Rome in search of antiques Fall of Naples Entry of King Charles VIII. and flight of Ferrante II. Consternation in Milan Departure of Isabella d'Este.
It was said by Spaniards that he was never seen to weep, even at the death of his nearest relatives and friends, except on the solitary occasion of the departure of Don Ferrante Gonzaga from court. Such a temperament was invaluable in the stormy career to which he had devoted his life. He was essentially a man of action, a military chieftain.
When he took Giannozzo Manetti as his secretary on the most brilliant conditions, he said to him, 'My last crust I will share with you. When Giannozzo first came to bring the congratulations of the Florentine government on the marriage of Prince Ferrante, the impression he made was so great, that the King sat motionless on the throne, 'like a brazen statue, and did not even brush away a fly, which had settled on his nose at the beginning of the oration. His favorite haunt seems to have been the library of the castle at Naples, where he would sit at a window overlooking the bay, and listen to learned debates on the Trinity.
There is no need for an armed rising. Five score of my lances will be all that is necessary. We are planning a surprise, and Ferrante Gonzaga is to be at hand to support us with Imperial troops and to receive the State as the Emperor's vicegerent when the hour strikes. It will strike soon," he added, "and this, too, shall be paid for with the rest."
Ferdinand of Spain had desired him because the possession of him would assist the Catholic King in the expulsion of the Moors. Ferrante of Naples had craved him because he lived in perpetual terror of a Turkish invasion. In the end he had been sent to Rome, whither he went willingly under the advice of the Knights of Rhodes, whose prisoner he really considered himself.
And, lest any attempt should be made upon his life when he went abroad, he did so with an imposing escort of men-at-arms; which so vexed and fretted King Ferrante, that he did not omit to comment upon it in scathing terms in a letter that presently we shall consider.
Both the Duke of Ferrara and King Ferrante, who had been consulted through his ambassadors, when they came to hunt at Vigevano, agreed readily to Lodovico's proposal, and the only person to raise objections was Piero de' Medici, who had lately succeeded his father as chief magistrate of Florence, and pretended to the same power.
Mixed with all this, a certain derision of Ariosto is unmistakable, and it was fortunate for the 'Or- lando Furioso' that the 'Orlandino, with its Lutheran heresies, was soon put out of the way by the Inquisition. Perhaps Ferrante Gonzaga, the patron of the poet, was a party to this sarcasm on the house of Este.
They took with them Ferrante Spinola, a mortally- wounded Italian officer of rank, as a trophy of their battle, and a boatload of beef and flour, as an earnest of the approaching relief. While the conquerors were thus gone to enjoy their triumph, the conquered, though perplexed and silenced, were not yet disposed to accept their defeat. They were even ignorant that they were conquered.
Word Of The Day